A Long Way From Home
by turbomagnus
Summary: 'Insurrection' added scene - The plan on how to relocate the Baku had to originate from somewhere...


Disclaimer: Star Trek and "Star Trek: Insurrection" are the property of Paramount, CBS and the creation of Gene Roddenberry, used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Author's Note: Just a thought that occurred to me recently when watchng the Next Generation episode "Homeward" and noticing the similarities between it and what Admiral Dougherty was planning in "Insurrection". Consider this an 'added scene' that would take place before Picard and most of the senior staff take the Captain's Yacht to the planet and leave Riker to get the Enterprise out of the Briar Patch and contact Starfleet.

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><p>-o0O0o-<p>

"A Long Way From Home"  
>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'<p>

-o0O0o-

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><p>Conference Room, Deck One<br>U.S.S. _Enterprise_, NCC-1701-E  
>Orbiting planet Baku, Briar Patch,<br>Regulus Sector Block

"A holoship, Captain?"

"Is something wrong, Mr. Worf?"

The Klingon shifted his stance, "Captain, if you remember several years ago, the incident with my brother, Nicolai..."

"_Merde_," Picard swore softly.

"The sentiment does seem to be accurate, Sir," Data added, having made the connections almost instantly.

"For the sake of the rest of us, would somebody mind telling me what's going on here?" Bevery finally interjected.

"Mr. Worf's brother transitioned the natives he lived among to a new world from their old one using our holodeck to disguise the journey as simply a long walk instead of the true situation," Picard explained, "Which is almost exactly what they had planned for the Baku - it's all our fault, Beverly, what they planned to do, they took the inspiration from _us_."

"You can't know that, Jean-Luc," Beverly insisted.

"It is... unlikely... to be anything else," Wolf answered, "That they would dishonor my brother's actions in this way..."

The Klingon officer shook his head, "It offends me."

"I will admit to not being particularly fond of the idea myself, Mister Wolf," Picard added.

Riker sighed, "After Pressman and Leyton, Satie's witch-hunt, and now Dougherty... I'm starting to wonder about all the Admiralty and if they can be trusted..."

"Given the number of Admirals on active duty or retirees currently serving as civilian advisors or consultants; along with the complete number of Admirals in the course of Starfleet history; as well as the number involved in events of, shall we say, dubious legality during that time, I would estimate the possibility of any given Admiral to be involved in such events to be roughly..."

"_Thank you_, Mister Data," Picard interrupted.

Data grinned, "Of course, Sir."

"Data... were you teasing the Captain?" Troi asked.

"I was having fun at his expense, Counselor, yes," Data nodded.

"Sometimes, I think I liked him better before the emotion chip," Riker remarked.

"I believe the correct 'Human' response is..." Data smiled, "'I love you too, Commander'."

Troi immediately broke out into laughter at the expression on Riker's face from hearing that, "Will, I think that might be revenge for what happened with Lal all those years ago."

"Ah, yes," Data turned at look on Riker that was normally seen on Lore, the 'conniving and cruel' look, "That is an incident for which I have not yet seen fit to repay the Commander after activating my emotion chip."

"Do I have to remind everyone that she kissed me?" Riker said, almost pouting as he did so.

"Not now, Mister Data," Picard shook his head, forestalling any response by the ship's Second Officer to the First Officer's comment.

"He's right, Data," Crusher put her hand on his shoulder, "Anyway, that's the kind of revenge you save for the night before he gets married."

Troi gave Data the secret weapon of women across the galaxy for thousands of years; the puppy-dog eyes, "Data, you wouldn't do anything to Will that might catch me in the crossfire, would you?"

Data cocked his head to the side, "I find it interesting that Doctor Crusher suggests the Commander's wedding night, Counselor, and you immediately envision yourself involved in the event."

Troi blushed as she realised that Data was quite correct in what he was pointing out, she had automatically assumed she'd be there with Will on his wedding night.

"I think," Picard observed, standing to his feet followed by his officers, "That perhaps we should adjourn for the night and finish this discussion in the morning, hopefully with clearer heads."


End file.
